This One Makes Me Almost Want To Cry - Blog Posts

Look closely at the center of this image. You probably noticed the bright spot in the center, the central protostar. But did you notice the dark band in front of it? That’s the protostar’s accretion disk, created as material swirls around it. The material within this disk can sometimes clump up, forming the beginnings of planets. But the protostar will absorb many of these before they can mature. When the protostar becomes a full-fledged star, any remaining material from the disk will form stable planets, creating a whole new solar system. #NASAWebb #UnfoldTheUniverse #JWST #STScI #protostar #hourglass Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI; J. DePasquale, A. Pagan, and A. Koekemoer (STScI).